Special Educational Needs in Conwy

HCB Solicitors education law solicitors provide specialist additional learning needs advice and assist families in disputes with their Local Authority, which includes Conwy County Council. Our special education needs (SEN) solicitors have assisted many parents and young people within Conwy and have practice throughout Wales.

We have provided education law advice in Conwy to secure special educational needs support for several children, young people and families. The specialist education law solicitors have dealt with Conwy County Council on numerous matters. This can often involve an appeal being made to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales.

What are Special Educational Needs in Conwy?

Special educational needs can be regarded as any difficulty a child or young person has in accessing education. Special educational needs (SEN) affect how a person learns. The needs can affect everything from:

physical ability

concentration levels

ability to understand

sensory issues

hearing and/or visual impairment

behaviour

literacy and/or numeracy

language ability

social and/or communication skills

If a child or young person has difficulties in accessing school, education, or facilities at school and requires support beyond that typically made for young people of the same age, they will often be regarded as having special educational needs.

If you are not sure whether your child or young person has special educational needs, you should seek specific legal advice from a specialist education law solicitor. HCB Solicitors has a specialist team on hand to assist, given their substantial experience in helping parents across the region and UK, as a whole.

Conwy County Council has their own policies, but also must comply with the relevant legislation, being the Education Law 1996 and the SEN Code of Practice for Wales. Whilst the law can be complicated, in our experience the policies can over-simplify the law and confuse quite complex rules. This can result in poor decision making and bad decisions being made that require challenge. That is often why parents in Conwy seek special educational needs advice from us.

If the SEN Department in Conwy Local Education Authority relies on policies exclusively, rather than the law, this can lead to disputes arising and we have helped several families successfully appeal to SENTW against decisions taken by Conwy County Council SEN team.

We would always advise parents to make sure that they focus on the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice and current legislation, rather than Conwy Council’s SEN policies only. The SEN Code of Practice can be found here:

What is SEN Support in Conwy?

The school hopefully would identify that a child or young person has special educational needs and assess their progress levels regularly. When this happens, the class teacher and Additional Learning Needs Coordinator (ALNCo), will plan additional support that will consist of special education provision from within the school’s own budget and resources.

If the school does not identify a pupil with special educational needs, it may be necessary to secure a statutory assessment of their special educational needs from Conwy County Council. Our specialist team of education law solicitors can assist with this.

If the child or young person needs more support than the school can provide, a Statement of SEN will be required that is specific in relation to the support that will be delivered.

It is very important to note that there is no requirement to try the graduated response of School Action or School Action Plus before seeking a statutory assessment or a Statement of SEN.

How can I get a Statement in Conwy?

Before a Statement of SEN can be issued, Conwy County Council must make a statutory assessment and at the conclusion of the assessment, Conwy County Council will decide whether a Statement of SEN is necessary.

The term “necessary” has been the focus of much litigation. It means that the Local Authority must consider the subjective needs of the child or young person, the special educational provision that they need and whether it is reasonably likely that a mainstream school can deliver that support.

If the local authority refuses to make and maintain a Statement to cater for the child’s additional learning needs, parents can appeal to the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales.